Pokémon Emerald (Game Boy Advance)

Pokemon Emerald takes place in the Hoenn region and features all-new areas and exciting new plot twists. The story begins when a young aspiring Pokemon trainer moves to Littleroot Town. Crammed amid a truckload of boxes, our hero enters the foreign neighborhood eager to explore. Shortly into your journey a challenge arises and you must choose from three Pokemon -- Torchic, Mudkip or Treecko -- and begin a quest to become the world`s best Pokemon Trainer. During your quest you`ll enter the Battle Frontier, where you`ll need every bit of your strategy knowledge and cunning to win.

• A new Pokmon Battle Frontier that is more advanced and challenging will test the skills of the best Pokmon Trainers.
• Players will need to train hard to battle against the new seven Frontier Brain competitors in order to obtain all of the symbols in the Battle Frontier.
• Bring full cross-compatibility to this game by connecting to Pokmon Ruby, Pokmon Sapphire, Pokmon Colosseum, Pokmon FireRed and Pokmon LeafGreen.
• Wireless multiplayer trading and battling with up to four players using a wireless adapter.

Although the storyline is similar to Ruby and Sapphire its focus is on the legendary pokemon Rayquaza, rather than Kyogre and Groudon. Not only does this alter the storyline in several important places but it also changes where and how often you can catch certain pokemon. Some of the trainers have moved around as well and there are also new battle animations for all the pokemon when they fight.

The most important new feature is the Battle Frontier and the seven Frontier Brain competitors. This is for real pokemon experts and takes the form of a seven different tournaments against some especially powerful pokemon. The reward is some additional badges that further increase your powers as a trainer.

Unlike Ruby and Sapphire the game is also compatible with the Game Boy Advance wireless adaptor, which makes it easier to battle and trade and also gives you access to the Union chat room, for you to fill with real pokefans. With many other smaller additions and tweaks, such as a National Pokedex that includes listing for every Pokemon in existence, this is just the thing for pokemon obsessives of all ages. -- Harrison Dent

This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.